Aniue
by Densetsuno Youko
Summary: When Fugaku decided to adopt his teammate's orphaned daughter, he was excited to finally have a baby girl of his own. Except, he had this growing suspicion that Kagome may just be a tad bit too obsessed with her new older brother. Kagome
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto.

Author's Note: Today was the last day of my finals, so I thought I'd start this since I'll (hopefully) have time to update on a regular basis. Plus, as my Naruto calendar pointed out, today's Itachi's Birthday! It'll push this story off to a nice start, I think. :P

**First Impressions**

_6/9/09_

Itachi stood by the widow, small fingers clinging tightly to the edge of the sill as he peered into the dark streets of the Uchiha Clan. For minutes, he simply stared without noise or movement. He simply waited. For what, he wasn't quite sure.

"Itachi, darling, why don't we start dinner first?" he heard his mother beckon from the kitchen. "We can have the cake when your father comes home."

_When? Don't you mean 'if'?_ However, Itachi resisted the urge to correct her. "I'm not hungry, Kaa-san." he said instead, keeping his eyes trained on the empty streets. For one reason or another, he felt excited. He didn't know why. He hadn't felt anything but detachedness since the fox attacked eight months ago. Of course, no one knew that he knew what had happened. No one had expected him to be there. They had all thought he had been at home that night.

"Itachi!" his mother harrumphed as he heard her enter the room. He could hear the amusement and ire in her voice. "I didn't think you wanted your father to be here so badly. If I had known, I would have let him leave earlier."

"It's not that," Itachi said, staring at his mother through the window's reflection. He hadn't expected his father to be on time anyway. He had seemed stressed – even more so than usual – after the fox's attack. But today, for some reason, he couldn't shake off the feeling of excitement and…anticipation?

Mentally ticking through the possibilities of what he could be excited about, Itachi came up with two possibilities. Two days ago, he had graduated from the Ninja Academy, making him one of the youngest graduates in Konoha history. But then, that had been expected. He had found the academy to be ridiculously easy from day one. The only reason he hadn't graduated when he was 5 was because the Hokage had claimed he was too young to be a ninja. Well, that was before the fox attack. After that, there had been a shortage of ninjas and he had been promoted to genin within the year.

So no, he wasn't excited about his graduation.

Then, was he excited about his birthday? Hardly. If his mother hadn't insisted on having a small celebration, he would have been content to let the day pass without further mention of it. But then, that left him without an answer. What could he possibly be expecting?

"Kaa-san –" he began. However, at that moment, Sasuke's cry pierced through the air. Itachi sighed as his mother left. Apparently, his little brother had finally awoken from his three hour nap. Curiously, Itachi wondered if he had slept that much as a baby. Or if he had been that needy. Or even that wrinkly. Well, Itachi silently corrected, his little brother had gotten a little less wrinkly over the months. But he was still kind of fat.

Itachi tensed when he heard footsteps walking up their porch. But then, he relaxed when he realized it was only his father. "Okaeri, Tou-san." he greeted as soon as his father opened the door. Silently, he took pleasure in seeing his father jump in surprise.

"Oh, Itachi." his father said gruffly, trying to hide the fact that he had been surprised by a 6-year-old. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, Tou-san." Itachi answered, taking amusement in his father's ire.

"Indeed," his fathered conceded, amused. "Now," he continued, looking positively… giddy? Mentally, Itachi shivered. That just sounded wrong. "Come here and take a look," his father beckoned, motioning to a small bundle in his arms as he lowered himself to his knees. "It's your birthday present."

_Birthday present?_ Out of curiosity, Itachi went closer and peered over his father's arms. Immediately, Itachi felt his excitement and anticipation return. Had this been what he had been unconsciously waiting for? As his father lifted the cloth away, Itachi felt himself subconsciously holding his breath.

"It's your new sister! A new Uchiha!"

Itachi blinked as he stared at the baby in his father's arms.

"So," his father coughed, trying to hide his excitement and regain his Uchiha dignity. "What do you think?"

_The truth? _Itachi wondered.

"Well?" his father prompted.

"She kind of looks like Sasuke." he answered. _Except with more hair_.

"Hm, I guess babies do tend to look alike." his father replied, looking a little disgruntled by his answer. Silently, Itachi wondered if he had wanted the full truth. "But, what do you think about her. As in, what's your first impression of your sister?" his father clarified. "Besides the fact that she looks a little like Sasuke."

"Hm," Itachi frowned as he scrutinized the sleeping baby. Tilting his head, he hoped seeing her from a different angle would give him a different impression.

"So?" his father prompted.

"She's kind of ugly."

***

TBC

Author's Note: :P I just wanted to mess around a bit. I've read a lot of stories where Kagome is adopted/accepted into the Uchiha Clan. But, I thought it would be funny/cute if Itachi wasn't so accepting. Well, Itachi _is _only 6 years old, and kids can be blunt to a fault. Plus, this is only 6-year-old Itachi's first impression of Kagome. It'll change. :D


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto.

**Red Bean Buns**

_6/16/09_

Lifting the crying baby – slobber and all – into his arms, Itachi gave his new sister an irritated glare. Honestly, he should have seen this coming from miles away. Or, more precisely, from the moment his father had introduced the baby to his mother. Even at best, Itachi could tell his mother had been severely displeased with the decision to adopt the Higurashi orphan into the Uchiha Clan.

She had paled so quickly at the sight of the baby that Itachi had half-feared that she would faint on the spot. Then, for the rest of the night, she had remained oddly silent while his father had tried to discreetly coo and make faces at the child without drawing attention. Trying, of course, was the key word. In truth, Itachi was positive that he would never see anything more ridiculous in his life.

"Sh," he said gently as he carefully rocked the baby in his arms. He wasn't sure if he was holding her correctly or not, but he tried his best to mimic the way he had seen his mother cradle Sasuke. To his relief, after a while, her cries subsided and she began to giggle. "Babies are such strange creatures." he murmured to himself, watching with slight fascination as a bubbling smile replaced her earlier frown.

Kagome gurgled in response and grabbed a fistful of his hair, stuffing it in her mouth.

Prying his hair out of the baby's mouth, Itachi nearly cringed to find it sopping with her spit. Turning a bemused look on the baby, Itachi sighed when he found her with her fist shoved into her mouth. Silently, he wondered if she was hungry. Even as the thought was forming in his mind, his feet had already begun carrying him towards the kitchen.

"Itachi, is that you?" his mother asked, her back turned towards him as she tried to change Sasuke's diaper. Sasuke, for his part, was determined to make the whole thing as difficult as possible by twisting and rolling back and forth across the table. "Could you grab me Sasuke's bottle? It should be on the –" she stopped when she turned and spotted the baby girl cradled in her eldest's arms.

"I think she's hungry, Kaa-san." Itachi said, looking unflinchingly back at his mother. "She was crying." _Very loudly_, he silently added. It had been so loud that he had heard it all the way from the backyard.

"Just leave her on the ground. I'll make her something later." his mother dismissed and turned her attention back to Sasuke. "Please go grab Sasuke's bottle. It should be somewhere on the counter."

Giving his mother another glance, Itachi shifted the baby in his arms and entered the kitchen. Finding his younger brother's bottle on the counter, he wrested Kagome's fist from her mouth and quickly gave her Sasuke's bottle before she could jam her fist back into her mouth. Immediately, as soon as she had the bottle in her mouth, she began sucking furiously, quickly draining the milk.

Quietly, Itachi wondered when was the last time she had been fed.

Shaking his head, he placed the baby on the floor and quickly jumped onto the counter to grab another bottle from the cupboard. Then, making the milk formula from memory, he quickly heated the bottle with a mild fire jutsu. Finally, with the new bottle in hand, he scooped Kagome off the ground and returned back to the family room.

"Here, Kaa-san." he said, handing her the bottle.

"Thank –" his mother stopped mid-sentence and blinked when she noticed the bottle held in Kagome's hand. "Oh, no wonder it took you so long." she murmured, a frown curving her lips. "Well, why don't you leave her here and go back to training?" she suggested, lifting Sasuke into her arms and feeding him the milk. "If I remember correctly, you'll be going on your first out of the village mission tomorrow."

"I've trained enough," Itachi answered as he pried the empty bottle from Kagome's hands when he realized she was sucking in air. _Maybe I should have made an extra bottle_, he thought to himself when Kagome immediately stuffed her fist back in her mouth again. "I'm going to bring the baby to Father." he added, knowing he wouldn't be able to concentrate until he had delivered the baby to the police station. Already, his morning had been ruined by the baby's random spurts of cries.

"But your father's working." his mother protested with another frown.

"I don't think Father will mind." Itachi said, picking up a rag and placing it over his shoulder before laying Kagome across it. "He was considering bringing her to work anyway." he added, resisting the urge to grimace when Kagome finally burped and something trickled onto the rag. "I'll see you later, Kaa-san." he said, moving Kagome back into his arms as he used the same rag to clean the edge of her mouth.

"Itachi –" his mother called out, a look surprise on her face when she realized how well her eldest had handled the baby. Why hadn't he ever volunteered to help with Sasuke? "Where did you learn –?" However, her questions were left unanswered when she realized her son was already half-way out the door.

"Bye Kaa-san." Itachi said, pulling the door closed with a soft click. In his opinion, the faster he delivered the baby, the faster he could return to what he was originally doing.

On the way to the police department, Itachi was stopped by some distant relatives who bowed and inquired after his family when they noticed the baby girl in his arms. "It's my sister." Itachi replied, not bothering to elaborate. After a few more friendly exchanges, he easily ended the conversation with a polite, "It was nice seeing you, but I need to find my father. I'll see you next time, Kuji-ji-san, Yuko-ba-san."

"Wait," the old lady called, turning into her shop and coming back with three buns. "It's a reward for taking such good care of your little sister." she said, handing him the small bundle. "Come back sometime soon."

"Hai," Itachi bowed, accepting the gift. "Thank you."

As he walked, Itachi took one of the buns and took a bite, enjoying the slightly sweet flavor of the red bean paste. Then, noticing Kagome's eyes on the bun, Itachi wondered if it was all right to feed an eight-month-old child red bean paste. However, deciding that there shouldn't be much harm, he gave the other half to her and watched with interest as she gnawed, nibbled, and licked the bun with fervor.

By the time he reached the police department, Itachi had already finished the other two buns. Walking up to the main desk, he told the Uchiha he was here to see his father before going into the police head's private office. He strategically ignored the looks and questions he received about the baby and quickly closed the office door once he was inside.

"Itachi," his father said, surprised. "What are doing here?"

Turning around, Itachi gave his father a blank look before motioning his head towards the baby in his arms.

"Is that Kagome?" his father asked, quickly standing up. Then, noticing she was eating something (or at least trying to), he quickly asked, a little worried, "What did you feed her?"

"Red bean bun," Itachi answered.

"Is it safe?"

"I ate it too."

"For a baby, I mean."

"It should be."

However, at that moment, a strange smell wafted to their noses.

"Do you smell that?" his father asked.

"Hai," Itachi answered, feeling dread for the first time in his life.

"What is it?" his father questioned, taking another sniff.

Holding the giggling baby at arm's length, Itachi eyed her mostly-toothless grin with a bemused look. "Here," he said, giving the baby to his father. "I need to go prepare for a mission tomorrow." His face betrayed nothing as he quickly turned and exited.

Confused, Fugaku held the baby for a moment before the smell wafted to his nose again – twice as strong as before. Eyes widening with dawning comprehension, Fugaku quickly burst through the door and (ignoring his Uchiha dignity as the Head of the Clan) shouted, "Uchiha Itachi, get back in here this minute!"

* * *

Author's Note: Well, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as much as the first one. :P Please let me know what you think. I hope I didn't make Itachi out of character. I'm just trying to capture what he might have been like as a child. As for Mikoto…well, there is a reason why she dislikes Kagome. But really, I just wanted to try a story where the situation was reversed (since most like to portray Fugaku as the um…evil half…). Plus, (SPOILERS) if anyone's read the chapters after Itachi's death, there were a few chapters of Sasuke's flashback, and in those memories, Mikoto looked irritable and mean while Fugaku seemed…well, hm…himself. Or I could just be seeing things. Well, that's it. Hope everyone was clear on what happened at the end of the chapter. :D Poor Fugaku!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto.

**Uchiha Puppies**

_6/30/09_

If Itachi had been asked to describe his clan in one sentence, he would answer that the Uchiha Clan was a clan of people that could hold onto a grudge forever. There was no exception to that statement – family or otherwise.

He would know because even after two weeks, his father was still begrudging him for leaving Kagome – the daughter _he _had wanted to adopt, he pointedly added – in his hands. Even now, his father was giving him the cold shoulder. Not that he minded. It was nice not having his father hovering over him at every turn.

If anything, he was suffering more from Kagome's newfound fascination in his person than his father's attempt to alienate him. For instance, ever since he had fed her that one time two weeks ago, she had followed him around the house like a little puppy. He was sure that if she had been able to walk, she would have followed him on missions too.

However, even though it was amusing at times, it was usually inconvenient to have a baby around – especially when she began crying for reasons that he could not understand. "Go on, Itachi." His mother's voice drew his attention away from the baby clinging to his leg. "I'll watch her today."

Itachi didn't reply, knowing his mother's definition of "watching" Kagome equated to something along the lines of dumping her in the backyard and leaving her to fend for herself – without access to food or water. And even though he wasn't completely fond of the little girl himself, he didn't think his father would appreciate it if she died in their backyard.

"No, it's all right." Itachi replied, scooping the giggling baby into his arms. After his first experience with Kagome's tendency to chew on his hair, he had learned to keep his hair in a low ponytail to keep it out of her reach. "I'm only visiting Shisui. He wanted to meet her anyway. I'll be back around dinnertime, Kaa-san."

"But Itachi –"

With a sigh, Itachi quickly closed the door and cut off his mother's words. If she offered to watch Kagome again, he might be tempted to give in, and he didn't want to deal with the guilt of leaving her behind again. The last time he had left Kagome in his mother's care, he had come home just in time to save her from downing in their koi-fish pond, and he didn't want to take the same risk again.

On the way to Shisui's house, Itachi listened half-heartedly as Kagome tried to make conversation through a gurgle of nonsense. For the most part, he ignored it because it didn't have any meaning. However, as they neared Shisui's house, she suddenly began barking. Confused, he stopped and stared at the baby with a curious look. Even though there were several instances in which he had equated her actions to that of a puppy, he had never actually expected her to start barking like one too.

He didn't think his father would appreciate it.

"Woof, woof!" Kagome cried again, pointing at something ahead.

Looking up, Itachi blinked when he noticed the familiar nin-dog that belonged to his female teammate, Inuzuka Hana. If her nin-dog was here, Itachi deduced that she must be here to see Shisui too. What for, he wasn't sure. He didn't remember any missions being assigned, and their Jounin sensei was out of the village, meaning there shouldn't be any team meetings.

"Woof, woof!" Kagome barked again, pointing at the nin-dog with an elated expression.

"It's a puppy." Itachi answered, not sure why he was even bothering to teach her the word when she couldn't even say 'mama' and 'papa' yet. "Puppy," he repeated, moving closer to the nin-dog and bending down so Kagome could get a better look. The dog ran in happy circles, alternating between playing with a ball and chasing its own tail.

"Woof, woof!" Kagome adamantly repeated, reaching towards the dog.

Itachi quickly pulled back, afraid she would injure herself if the nin-dog decided to bite.

"Itachi, what are you doing here?"

At the sound of Shisui's voice, Itachi looked up and gave him a blank look. "We were going to train today." he said, his expression betraying none of his irritation.

"Oh, right!" Shisui said, slapping his forehead with his hand. "I totally forgot!" Looking a little embarrassed, he asked, "If it's all right with you, we can train together tomorrow. I, well, sort of promised Hana-chan to babysit her little brother today."

A little irritated, but knowing Shisui was infatuated with his teammate, Itachi resisted the urge to remind him that he had promised to train with him _first_.

Sensing movement from behind Shisui, Itachi looked up just in time to see Hana emerge from the house with a baby boy cradled in her arms. He immediately guessed that the baby was her younger brother, Kiba.

"Oh, Itachi," she said, surprised to see him there. "Is that your little sister?" she asked, her eyes immediately drawn to the tiny baby who was barking madly at her nin-dog. "Is she…all right?" she asked hesitantly.

"…yes." Itachi answered after a slight pause.

"Well," Hana smiled, turning to Shisui and dumping her brother in his arms, "I'll be back for him in three hours. Thanks again for watching him! You have no idea what this means to me! You're a real lifesaver!"

At her brilliant smile, Itachi was surprised Shisui was still standing instead of melting into a puddle of goo. Watching as his cousin flushed and stuttered in the Inuzuka's presence, he made a mental note to never like any girls. He feared the day he would end up looking like _that_. It was unseemly.

After Hana left, the two Uchihas shared a look.

"So…" Shisui trailed. What were they going to do now?

Shifting Kagome in his hold, Itachi watched with amusement as Shisui yelped when Kiba suddenly grabbed his hair and tugged, hard.

"I would suggest tying your hair back." Itachi said, a small smile lingering on his lips.

"Speaking from experience?"

"Hn."

* * *

After a while, Itachi decided it would be better to take Kagome back home. He didn't think there was much point staying there when Shisui was too busy trying to care of the baby to even talk. Itachi was just glad Kagome wasn't as energetic as the Inuzuka child. He was sure he would have drowned her himself if she had been half as troublesome as Kiba.

Reaching their mansion, Itachi was surprised when he saw their father home already. Knowing that his father still hadn't completely forgiven him yet, Itachi didn't even bother with a greeting before handing him the baby.

"Where are you going?" his father asked, his tone gruff.

Surprised that his father was speaking to him again, Itachi turned and eyed him with a curious look before answering, "Training."

"Be back for dinner."

A small smile curved his lips as he quietly answered, "Hai, Tou-san."

* * *

That night, as Mikoto set the dinner table, Fugaku took it upon himself to teach both of his children how to talk. After all, Itachi had been speaking quite well by this time. Why should it be any different with his other children?

"Say 'Tou-san'," he instructed.

Sasuke gave him a blank, uncomprehending look before crawling back to his toys.

"Say 'Tou-san'," he tried again, holding Kagome in place before she could crawl after her brother. "Tou…san." he slowly repeated.

Kagome gave him the same look that Sasuke gave him.

"Come on. You can do it. "Say 'Tou-san'."

Wiggling out of his grip, Kagome pointed at Sasuke, who was wriggling on the ground, playing with a red ball, and shouted, "Woof, woof!"

"Forget about it." Mikoto spoke up, picking up her son and setting him in one of the high chairs. "She's not going to say anything. Though, she does bark quite well as a dog."

"Well, sounds are the first step." Fugaku defended. "She'll be speaking in no time."

As Mikoto moved into the kitchen to finish making the soup, Fugaku sat himself beside Kagome and watched as she barked again. "Woof, woof! Woof, woof!" she happily cried. "Woof, woof!"

"Yes, you'll be speaking in no time, won't you?" Fugaku asked.

"Woof, woof!"

Unable to resist, Fugaku bent over so he was eye-level with Kagome and barked back, "Woof, woof!"

Immediately, Kagome giggled and shouted, "Woof, woof!"

* * *

Returning home after dark, Itachi walked into the dining room expecting his family to be sitting around the dining table, ready for dinner. However, instead of finding what he had been expecting, he was greeted by the most bizarre scene he had ever seen.

While it wasn't strange to see Kagome on the ground, it was more than a little weird to find his father on the ground as well. And…was he _barking_?

His father must have finally sensed his presence because he immediately looked up, a dark flush on his cheeks. "Ahem," he coughed, trying to hide his embarrassment as he quickly stood. Scooping Kagome in his arms, he quickly deposited her in her high chair and seated himself at the head of the table.

Not another word was spoken as Itachi seated himself beside his father.

However, a moment later, his mother entered the room and Sasuke began barking at her. As soon as the shock wore off, his mother rounded on his father. With an extremely irritated look on her face, she pointed at Sasuke and demanded, "What did you do to him?"

Before his father could answer, Kagome pointed at Sasuke and shouted, "Pwupi, pwupi!"

As a dark look flittered across his mother's face, his father – oblivious to his mother's growing ire – shouted, "She spoke! She spoke!" Elated, he picked Kagome out of her chair and said, "Say it again."

At once, his mother protested. "Do you not care that she just called your son a puppy?" she asked, angry.

"She probably doesn't even know what it means." his father retorted.

"So it's all right to encourage her to call Sasuke a puppy?!"

"It's just a word."

"She can't even speak, and she's already insulting –"

"Toe-sa!" Kagome suddenly chirped, cutting off both his parents.

At once, his father immediately turned his attention back to the baby in his arms and asked, "What did you say? Did you just call me 'Tou-san'?"

However, instead of looking at their father, Kagome was looking right at him. "Toe-sa, Toe-sa!" she repeated, turning and reaching her arms for him.

Ignoring his father's chilly look, Itachi stepped forward and allowed Kagome to climb into his arms. As he held the giggling baby in his arms, Itachi silently wondered if his father was ever going to talk to him again after this.

"Toe-sa," Kagome smiled, bubbling with happiness as she wrapped her chubby arms around his neck. "Toe-sa!" she cried again.

"No," Itachi said, ignoring his father's growing ire and how the room was growing colder and colder with each passing second. "Nii-san." At Kagome's uncomprehending look, he pointed to himself and slowly said, "Nii-san."

"Ni-sa?"

"Hai," Itachi answered, a smile on his lips.

They both ignored how the room had reached freezing point.

* * *

TBC

Author's Note: Hey, everyone! :) Hope this slightly longer chapter makes up for the long wait. I _was _going to update last Tuesday, but I had to pack for a trip to China. And now, I _finally _have the connection here set up. So, I posted this as soon as possible! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Naruto.

Age: _Itachi – 8, Kagome – 3, Iruka – 14, Hana – 14, Asuma – 20 _

**Health Care**

_7/20/09 – 7/31/09_

"Good job, team. The mission was a success."

Itachi would have been perfectly content (ecstatic even) if his sensei had simply left it there and dismissed everyone. But, the chances of that happening were probably slim to none. He had a feeling that he would have an easier time persuading him father to have tea with a Hyuuga than talking his sensei out of giving them a "reward".

"So, Itachi, how does barbeque sound to you?"

At those words, Itachi inwardly cringed. It wasn't that long ago when they had their last "barbeque dinner," and since then, he had sworn he would never go on another. Teammates just weren't meant to get to know each other _that _well.

"I'm expected at home." he excused.

"But we got back early today." his sensei shot back as he patted down his Jounin jacket in search of a cigarette. "You're family won't be expecting you for a while."

"My siblings started teething recently, and Mother needs extra hands around the house. I promised to watch over my little sister for her." he lied again, his face betraying none of his inner thoughts. He had always been an accomplished manipulator, and he had little qualms about lying to achieve certain goals and ends.

"Oh, I know what you mean." Hana broke in, a frown on her lips. "Kiba started teething recently too! I swear he tries to stuff everything he can get his hands on into his mouth – even if it doesn't fit there."

Itachi blinked. He wasn't sure if Kagome was as bad as Hana's brother, but he knew that she had (somewhere along the way) developed a strange obsession for sharp, pointed objects. He would never forget his father's horrified expression when they came home one night and found her gnawing on the blunt end of one of his kunais.

At that time, he had been sure his father would have gone straight to the Hokage and demand that the production of kunais be stopped until Kagome was older. Thankfully, before he had found it necessary to intervene, Shisui had appeared, drawing his father's ire away from the kunais.

The kunais were saved. However, Itachi was sad to admit that the same couldn't be said for his cousin's mental health. When Shisui had the great misfortune of walking through the door at the same time that Kagome had been crawling out, a nasty collision had occurred. Needless to say, the aftermath of the crash had become somewhat of a reoccurring nightmare for his cousin. Even now, a full year later, Shisui had admitted to having nightmares of his father running after him with kunais and Katon Jutsus.

"Well, you could go home and pick up your sister first." Hana suggested, breaking him from his thoughts. "I was planning on going home for a moment too. I promised to watch Kiba for Mom." There was a slight pause before Hana tentatively suggested, "Hey, maybe Kiba and Kagome can play together!"

Itachi pinned her with a rather dark look.

He'd rather they not.

* * *

"Say 'hello'."

"Hewo!"

Itachi stood with arms wrapped loosely around his sister's tiny body as his teammate gushed over how cute his baby sister was, and how lucky he was to have such an adorable little sister instead of a brother (to which Itachi didn't bother trying to remind – _again _– that he had a younger brother too).

"Great," his sensei boomed, clapping his hands together as he entered the room that he had especially reserved for their small get-together. "Now that everyone's finally here, we can begin. Even though this was on rather short notice, I'm sure everyone's glad to be here –"

At this, Itachi glared.

"Now, now, Itachi, it's good to spend time with your team outside of missions. And…is this your sister?"

"This is Kagome." Itachi answered, setting the little girl down. However, as soon as her feet touched the ground, she darted behind him. Reigning in a sigh, he gently pried her fingers from the back of his shirt and quietly herded her to one of the empty seats. "Be good," he softly whispered in her ear as he helped her settle down. "Uchihas do not hide."

Ignoring Kagome's adoring look, he turned his face towards his teammates and waited for them to finish bickering over who should take which seat. Once everyone was finally seated, he turned and directed Kagome's attention to his sensei and said: "This is my Jounin sensei. Say 'hello'."

Kagome looked up and shyly scrutinized the large (and somewhat scary) man sitting across from her with large, wide eyes. However, a quick glance at her older brother immediately had her straightening her back and turning up her nose at the man. "Hewo." she said, head turned to the side in a poor copy of her father's sneer – an expression that most people considered to be the Uchiha's trademark look.

Asuma blinked, chopsticks stilling in mid-motion as he stared at the young Uchiha with a startled expression. He knew the Uchihas were strict (rumors had it that the Uchihas literally beat any childhood tendencies their kids may have out of them), but the little girl seated next to Itachi couldn't be more than three years old!

Itachi smirked, knowing exactly what was going through his sensei's mind. Sometimes, despite being a Jounin, his sensei's expressions were as open as a book. Hiding his amusement, Itachi quietly took Kagome's plate and began piling it with food.

"I don't think she likes you." Hana pointed out rather obviously when she noticed their sensei was still lost in thought.

_Splat_

A cube of splattered tofu slid down Asuma's face.

"I don't think she likes you _at all_." Iruka corrected.

"Kagome," Itachi said, stopping her with a look.

Immediately abashed, Kagome quickly lowered her head and mumbled, "Sowry."

"It's okay," Asuma laughed, picking off a few pieces of the tofu from his vest. "There was no harm –" Before he could even finish his sentence, a piece of beef flew through the air and smacked him right in the eye.

"Not me!" Kagome immediately cried, holding up her hands.

"Kiba!" Hana scolded, drawing everyone's attention to the grinning Inuzuka child. "What did I tell you about throwing food around!?"

She was answered with a piece of a raw fish, which nailed her right in the forehead.

"Ki-Ba!" she snarled.

* * *

For a while, Itachi had been content with staying at the sidelines. His only concern was keeping Kagome away from trouble and out of harm's way, which was why he was eventually forced to intervene when Kiba began throwing around utensils like chopsticks, plates, and bowls. "Inuzuka," he coldly intoned when he had to nab a flying cup out of mid-air with his chopsticks to prevent it from smacking Kagome in the face.

From the dark look on Itachi's face, Hana immediately knew Kiba had gone too far. Quickly plucking her younger brother from his seat, and ignoring his cries to be put down, she hurriedly carried him out of the restaurant.

Even though Itachi was only a child himself, he was a lot more dangerous than normal shinobis. To Hana, her youngest teammate was not only dangerous because of his skills and icy demeanor, but also because he was unpredictable. For example, while Itachi had been known to show great mercy and forgiveness, he was also known to be capable of extreme ruthlessness. In the case of Itachi, it wasn't strange to find him to show kindness to a man, and then turn around and slit his throat the next second.

Really, she couldn't understand the way he thought at all. Why give money to a man he had been prepared to kill from the very start? Why didn't he kill the person immediately instead of waiting a day? These questions – and many more – had always troubled her. However, Hana had a feeling that she may never find the answer.

Uchiha Itachi had always been a sort of enigma. In her opinion, even at best, he was unstable (much like the rest of his clan), which made him a dangerous enemy, and an even more dangerous ally.

Either way, despite his seeming indifference towards his younger sister, Hana had seen the way he had cared for her. And, even though she was more than just a little curious to find out how he would react if Kagome _was _harmed, she wasn't about to risk Kiba's life for it. Annoying as he was, Kiba was still _her _brother.

"That was close." Iruka murmured.

Asuma wasn't sure if he was referring to Kagome's near-injury or Kiba's near-death. However, deciding that it was best not to bring it up again, he reached into his pocket for another cigarette. Sticking it in his mouth as he searched for the lighter, he was a little startled to find it suddenly gone.

Looking up, he watched Itachi with a strange look in eyes as the young boy crushed the cigar against the table. Again, he couldn't help but wonder exactly how much the young prodigy had been holding back during their missions. When he had moved, he hadn't sensed him at all.

"Next time," Itachi said as he placed the crushed cigar back in his sensei's hand, "Please smoke outside." Standing, he didn't offer another explanation before bowing, taking Kagome's hand, and leading her outside.

Blinking, Asuma looked towards Iruka.

Iruka stared back. "Um…I don't think you should try smoking in front of Kagome-chan anymore."

Lighting a new cigarette, Asuma nodded. He didn't think it'd be wise either.

* * *

TBC

Author's Note: I apologize for the confusion with the last chapter. I was out of town and didn't have access to my laptop, so I had my brother update. He posted the rough draft instead of the final draft, so I had to take it down. And then he couldn't find the final draft, so the update had to wait until I came back. So...thank you everyone who notified me. And for those who read the rough draft...there's some differences, but the general idea is the same. So, hope there was no real confusion.

Next Chapter: _**The Early Inheritance**_

_The rumors were right. The price of power was sanity. That explained why Elite Ninjas had weird quirks and Prodigies usually ended up insane. _

_When a drunk, chronically abusive Jounin has the misfortune of meeting Uchiha Kagome, he learns first-hand how "mentally unstable" Uchiha Itachi can be. However, Itachi may not be the only unstable Uchiha in Konoha. _


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